It's like a Bromance, only there's no Bromance, but it's all depressing and what not.

Joe Wright returns after triumphantly proving all wrong about the unfilmable-ness of Atonement, by making Atonement, and making it a damn good film.
With the aid of Susannah Grant on typewriter, joe makes a drama about two men in different circles of life, one a lonely journalist who writes human interest pieces, the other a homeless musical genius with schizophrenia. Together they bond for two hours in a Reign Over Me style push me pull me, I hit you then apologise, I don't know what I'm doing really film, which has been done before, and better, but gets by easily on the charisma and skill of Lucky Downey Jr. A man who oozes brilliance and makes acting look easy. Though it also makes Jamie Foxx's turn look like he's trying to hard and failing at every turn.
In addition to these two there's an unfairly ignored Stephen Root being funny, Catherine Keener, who gets roped in to a sub-plot that makes Downey's character more human and have issues, Tom Hollander in a bad American accent being a bible bashing music teacher and an assortment of quality yet unknown actors peppering scenes in the LA Mission Centre, homelife of Foxx's character and Downey's investigation and quest to help Foxx's character.

The plot is far too basic to go over, but the film isn't sure what it's doing most of the time, it starts focussed on Downey's character in a biking accident, then he finds Foxx, writes about him, gets a great response from people, but then goes into flashbacks of Foxx's character, as uncharismatic and uninteresting as possible on a movie screen, and evolves from young kid to adult in an apartment in a very Lynchian nightmare sequence, that goes nowhere and explains nothing.

Fortunately Downey is always close by to increase the film more, but the biggest problem of this film is somewhere in there it's a dark, interesting and funny character piece about two people who become friends against all odds, and things go wrong, but it's clearly Americanised to the point that happy endings are expected and painfully given in a desperate attempt to wrap up the previous hour and forty minutes of film before it. And it's a shame as it could have been something more, but as it is The Soloist is Oscar bait that won't get far and is disappointingly mundane, save for Downey as always.
7/10